Employer has said they will enforce my maternity leave at 29 weeks if I get signed off by Dr

[PinkPanther27]

Hello all, just a quick question. I've told my employer that my Dr has already offered to sign me off sick for SPD but I've been struglgling on so far. They've said that if I do go off sick that they can make me start my maternity leave at 29 weeks. I'm pretty sure this has changed to 36 weeks but they sought guidance and are a national company so would be surprised if they got this wrong. Am I right that it's 36 weeks or are there any exceptions?

I'm no expert but I thought they couldn't force ML to start until you are within 4 weeks of your due date.

Thats what I thought but I'm worried that maybe there is some exception to the rule. What if they go ahead and do it anyway? Can I stop them and reverse their decision or will it be too late?

From Direct.gov.uk

"Starting your Statutory Maternity Leave

You can start your Statutory Maternity Leave any time from 11 weeks before the beginning of the week when your baby's due.

If you are off work because of your pregnancy within four weeks of the expected birth date, your employer can make you start your Statutory Maternity Leave then."

Please tell me you are in a union?

Directgov says this:

Starting your Statutory Maternity Leave
You can start your Statutory Maternity Leave any time from 11 weeks before the beginning of the week when your baby's due.

If you are off work because of your pregnancy within four weeks of the expected birth date, your employer can make you start your Statutory Maternity Leave then.

I also thought 36 wks, there should be something on Direct Gov.
Exceptions to normal maternity law seem to be related to working in factories.

xposts.

Maybe they just misunderstand... I'm not sure you need to worry about unions just yet. Send the link to your HR department and ask them to clarify.

It was 36 weeks when I was pregnant 18 months ago.

But I agree with everyone else... I'm sure it can only be done when you hit 36 weeks.

I am in Union and I'm not planning to be off at 29 weeks but if I'm not getting any better then I'm not gonna put myself and my baby at risk staying there. Thanks for your responses - you've reassured me that I have got it right - if it comes down to it then I will contact my Union Rep asap

It is 36 weeks. Do not let them take the p* with this. Speak to the rep informally for advice. Also print of the information from the links above and show it to HR. Not that you should have to. They should bloody well know. They probably already do, and are trying to pull a fast one.

Thanks, not had much luck so far. Manager has ignored my health issues for the last 5 weeks! Does anyone know what law this relates to? If I can show them the actual legislation then they can't argue with that

They are clearly quoting the bit about 'you can start 11 weeks before' as if they can make you do that, when they can't. Maybe it's genuine confusion or maybe they are cynically trying to mislead you, but either way speak to HR and quote the Directgov info at them saying someone has clearly got mixed up. Any resistance, get on to your union rep.

Even a large company can make mistakes. As they are quoting outdated rules (as opposed to something totally spurious), I think you should consider approaching this initially as correcting an error. I would go in armed with a print off from the direct.gov website, say you've found they've made an error and request it be corrected.

I hope you find that it was an indeed just an oversight in updating a policy (poor show, but it happens, and these circumstances don't arise that often).

If not, then involve union etc asap.

Have you got a copy of their maternity policy? Get one when you go in next and hopefully just a case of pointing it out. Make sure you follow it up with an email for your records.

Thanks, got Dr's appt beginning of next week so if he does want to sign me off I'll see if it hits the 29 week mark first and then send them an email with the info copied and pasted in. I think I can relax now and not worry about it - didnt want them to trigger it off this early then I have to return to work not long after my baby is born! Got enough to be worrying about as it is!!

I think your

I think your plan sounds a good one. It's been 36 weeks for a while now. Definitely when I was pregnant and DS is nearly 3!

I am a little concerned no action is being taken regarding your health issues. Your employer has a legal duty to ensure your health and wellbeing at work. It's one of the few bits of employment law that is criminal as opposed to civil. If something were to happen and your employer was found liable they could face criminal charges. Extreme, but not impossible. This has lots of useful information www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hsc13.pdf but to summarise, a risk assessment should have been done and be kept up to date to reflect your health issues. Reasonable adjustments should be made to your working environment if necessary.

In a large company there may be an Occupational Health department whose job it is to make the assessment and recommendations to ensure a suitable working environment.

I hope you feel better soon. SPD's a bugger.

Thanks Kate, well I have had a risk assessment done and it was reviewed a while ago - but that seems to be as far as it went. My manager has probably just put in in their drawer and forgotten about it! I've made HR aware now and they said they will action the points but its a bit late as I was in agony when I raised the points ages ago. They need to have things in place now otherwise it will make the condition worse - if Dr signs me off then hopefully it will be in place when I return.

They are wrong.

Hi Pink

I've just seen your thread. Is it your first or secondary employer? Everyone else is right, it's 36 weeks. But the reason must state that it's a pregnancy related condition. They can't do it for something like flu etc.

Make sure you stand your ground. I had to with my company maternity pay, and I work in Payroll

Btw, I'm ILoveGreggsSausageRolls, I NC after the washing machine maintence thread

I'm pretty sure it was 36 weeks when I was pregnant with DS and he's 8. I was signed off work when I was 34 weeks pregnant and was a bit worried that when I was 36 weeks pregnant it would turn into ML but it didn't. Hope your work realises soon that they've got it wrong.

Its my first employment, my secondary employment keep saying I'm not even entitled to maternity leave let alone SMP - I've sent them all the legal stuff. I'm just amazed that they don't know these things. If I'm off then its more than liekly gonna be cos of my SPD but I can accept being signed off at 36 weeks as maternity cos I'll need the rest! QED - its been that long since it changed? I really can't believe they're not aware of this!
PS their maternity policy doesnt mention sickness.

It doesn't matter what their policy states, it's a statutory regulation